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Monday, August 24, 2009

Polenta Terrine Stuffed with Eggplant Tomato Sauce

(pictured: polenta terrine and salad with hempseeds)

Sometimes when I have a little leftover chunky vegetable sauce I make a polenta terrine. It is easy to make and looks like something that is more time consuming than it is. When you use leftover sauce this is the ultimate second use meal. I like to serve this with a big salad and maybe another veggie side dish.

My Italian side loves polenta. In fact I am such a polenta junky that my darling husband bought me a beautiful Italian cooper polenta pot. Just what every Italian girl needs. So yes, we do eat a lot of polenta. I like dishes like this that don’t require frying the polenta and adding a lot of unnecessary fat.

To my polenta I add a little nutritional yeast for umami and hot crushed peppers for flavor. I love polenta, but I like it to have flavor beyond just corn. If you don’t like spice you can always add olives, capers or herbs to the polenta instead.

Add the polenta and cold water together in a saucepan and whisk for a minute to thoroughly combine. You want all the grains of polenta to be wet so they don’t clump. If you whisk thoroughly you won’t get any lumps. I learned this in cooking class from a fellow Italian and it works like a charm.

Have a loaf pan ready by the stove for the polenta when it is cooked.

Add the hot crushed peppers, nutritional yeast and salt to the polenta and stir to combine. Turn the heat to high and stir until the polenta begins to bubble, now turn the heat down to low and cook (stirring every minute or so) until the polenta is no longer grainy. The time this takes to become soft will vary by brand and age but it should be ready in about 20 minutes.

Pour half the polenta in the bottom of the loaf pan and smooth to create an even layer. Add the eggplant tomato sauce on the top of the polenta and smooth this into a reasonably even layer. Top with the rest of the polenta and smooth the top. You can refrigerate the terrine and cook it later.

When you are ready to cook preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the terrine to heat it through, about 30 minutes. Allow the terrine to rest for at least 15 minutes so the terrine will be easier to slice and serve. Don't rush serving this like I did, or the bottom of the polenta will not have firmed up enough to come out cleanly. It will taste good, but won't be as photogenic.

My husband thought the polenta terrine was “a nice creamy texture with a mildly spicy background.” He told me "it was well balanced and a good use of the leftover eggplant tomato sauce".

The creaminess of the polenta was nice with the chewiness of the eggplant in the filling. I thought the spiciness of the polenta was a good counterpoint to the light sweetness of the eggplant tomato sauce.

I served this tonight with a simple lettuce and tomato salad with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with a few hempseeds for omega 3’s. The terrine with salad made a filling and nutritional meal.

You can stuff the polenta or stir things into the polenta (either works well). The longer you cool it the easier it is to plate. We had the leftovers for lunch today and the polenta was very firm and held together well even after being heated in the microwave.

I saw the sauce recipe you posted, it was very Southern Italian, and looked fabulous! You don't happen to be Italian do you?